Envelope printing systems even with customized feeders are typically limited by the speed of the media pickup assembly used to feed the envelopes into a laser printer. These pickup assemblies typically include a pickup roller that feeds a single envelope into the printer as the printer is ready to print each page image present on the transfer roller of the printer. Even if a customized feeder is utilized that delivers a single envelope quickly from an “endless” stack of envelopes adjacent to the pickup roller when the feeder senses that the media input tray below the pickup roller is empty, a lag is present in moving the envelope from the feeder into the media slot housing the pickup assembly.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,939,274 B1 issued to Robert C. Ross, Jr. discloses a printer feeding system in which a dual conveyor system advances envelopes from a vertical position to a horizontal position in a timed manner so that a receiving printer may ingest and process envelopes at a continual and reliable speed. That patent also discloses sensor inputs and control circuits to control the advancement of envelopes on a conveyor by controlling a drive motor in the feeder. However, the Ross system while practical and economical in a mass production environment is still larger and less economical in light envelope production environments.
Hence, what is needed is an envelope feeder system that feeds envelopes into a laser printer assembly at high speed with minimal area and at a reduced cost.